Misplaced Love
by klcm
Summary: With their relationship already on the rocks, Emily and Derek are forced to admit some home truths when two of the team are kidnapped. Nothing like a kidnap to make you reasses your relationships. Co-written with Emzypemzy.
1. News Flash

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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'You're a dick you know that!'  
'It's only my driving... you ride with me daily!'  
'Yeah and daily it seems like we're driving after yet another psycho!' Emily yelled loudly. 'It's seriously annoying, we are not living a constant race!' She walked a little in front. 'Why do you always want to be first?'  
'First? It's just driving but you're ripping my head off about it!'  
'That's because that among other things are truly annoying me!'  
'Among other things?' Derek said astounded. 'What's that suppose to mean?'  
'Oh... well... you let Clooney sleep on your bed.'  
'Yeah... so? It's habit.'  
'You leave your coffee mug in the sink every morning!'  
'That's because we leave quickly so I don't have time to wash it up.'  
'You always have an excuse.'  
'That's...' He began but halted, stopped and didn't continue knowing that this was yet another of one those fights he was never going to win. He exhaled noisily and turned on his heel, heading to the only place he knew he could truly clear his head, let off some steam and come out of it feeling like he had nothing to worry about it the world.  
Standing at her desk she watched his retreating form and knew exactly where he was going, and she in turn left the bull pen, her thoughts, doubts and worries about their relationship flooding her mind as she knocked on JJ's office door. She really needed to cool off, and the only way to do that was to let it all out.  
Morgan entered Garcia's office with a sigh and a smile ready to greet his best friend. But his smile was wasted, she wasn't there. The chair that usually swivelled around with the person that held a smile that lightened any problem was missing. He faltered slightly, a frown forming on his face, his eyebrows knitting together. Garcia was never late, and if she was going to be she would have phoned him. She was pernickety like that. He left the way he came, going directly to Hotch's office to find out where the all knowing goddess of the BAU was, and when he saw the office in darkness and the door locked he knew something was off. After all the boss literally lived out of this place day in, day out.  
Emily had begun to offload to JJ when she heard the familiar knock of Morgan's and she groaned softly before turning her head to face the door.  
'You seen Hotch?' Morgan asked as he lent on the doorframe, a slight look of worry on his face which was not missed by either of his fellow agents.  
'No, is he not in his office?' Emily asked, as JJ rifled through her messages to see if he had left one. He hadn't.  
When Emily saw the worry creep onto JJ's face she knew something was wrong, that Hotch wouldn't be late, that something was stopping him from being here, and that something had to be bad. Otherwise the excuse would have been made clear to either of the team members.  
'Where could he be?' Emily asked, the worry evident in her voice now.  
'I have no idea.' Morgan said, moving into the room further before adding: 'Garcia's not here either.'  
With this statement, the three turned to see Reid fumbling through the bull pen with a rather frantic look in his eye.  
He reached JJ's office in record time and managed not to spill his coffee on the way. When he came inside he spoke quickly: 'Turn on the news, you have to see this, we have to do something to help.' as he swiped his hair from in front of his face. The other members rushed out calling Rossi as they went, he surfaced from his office and looked none the wiser to the conversation that was happening between the younger members.  
JJ grabbed the remote and turned the television on and up, as they watched, their eyes grew, their mouths dropping in a sedate panic.

'_**Worries have sparked for the safety of two Quantico residents after videos have streamed the internet and news stations.'**_

The reporters voice rang out, the agents continued to stare, other agents gathering around them as the film played. Two figures knelt down next to one another, hands tied behind their backs, roughly woven bags over their heads, noticeably was the person that stood guard behind the pair, simultaneously a glove hand reached forward pulled the bags off and pressed a gun to the back of their heads. The bags now dropped, the abductors now reached forward and pulled the head up of the beings and forced them to look into the camera before the feed went black.

_**The pair have been named as Aaron Hotchner and Penelope Garcia, both workers for the Behavioural Analyst Unit in Quantico, Washington. The reason behind their abduction is still unclear, so is the reason behind the sending of the video's to such a vast number of viewers online.'**_

Everyone looked at one another, not knowing quite what to do or say at that moment and time. Emily and Derek exchanged glances, something had changed, their relationship had just shifted whether for the better was unknown but something was different with the way they looked at one another.


	2. Hitting A Wall

**Disclaimer**: We do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

We'd like to thank everyone who read... and especially those who reviewed... it meant a lot!

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When the lost lovers broke their stare to turn back to the news report as it rolled out, they missed Rossi walk off, and JJ rush to her office. The more they watched the more they realised that the news of Hotch and Penelope was now the official hotspot of all broadcasting. Derek grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels, each and everyone documenting the video, most of the time the pairs names being said, there was no escaping it, it was a reality.

As the name Aaron Hotchner bounced around her head, Emily slowly noticed the ringing of phones, millions seemed to ring out, Derek obviously in the same frame of mind with Penelope, blinked a couple of times as the noise of phones broke into his head and destroyed his worries as the profiler kicked in. He went straight for the phone, automatically going to dial his Baby Girl, it was when he saw her name on the screen that realisation truly hit: she was not there, she could not help them this time. He snapped the phone shut and flung it on to the desk before turning to see Reid already on the phone calling for a new tech.

New tech hit harder, new tech, no Penelope. No Penelope meant harder times were ahead. He walked from the bull pen, traced his tracks to her lair, walked in and found it still empty, his prays that by re entering the room would somehow mean she was back gone now. He swung round and hit the wall, his usual sign of aggression, he had done it when she was shot and now she was kidnapped, it warranted it, and he knew the urge would grow to repeat the action.

Emily paced JJ's office, not knowing where to put herself in the chaos, if she was in the bullpen she would surely be too occupied with watching the news, she bit her nail more before JJ smacked the next victim nail away from her mouth and carried on her conversation. Emily paced harder, the floor in the office would be worn down before long if no one gave her some type of duty to start to busy herself with. JJ finished her call and walked towards her.

'Emily, we'll get them back.'

'How do you know that JJ? The first video shows them with a gun against their heads! In this job that means execution!'

'Emily! We will get them back!' JJ reinforced sterner this time, with so much conviction her eyes watered with the possibility of not getting them back. 'We will.' She repeated so that she could believe it as well.

Emily's posture changed, her body language slacked. 'This is all wrong.' Emily said and left the office before JJ could question her, there was no time to play the chase game so she got back to phoning the news channels and getting as much on the origins of the video's as possible. Unfortunately for Emily, just as she headed outside to get some air, Rossi came marching into the bull pen, effectively cutting off her exit point. In tow were a number of young agents, all fresh eyed and bushy tailed and ready and willing to follow orders. 'They're here from IA, they have to look over the uh, hard drives, history, emails, note books, diaries. Everything. We need a team meeting in 5.' Emily just nodded before turning on her heels and heading back to the one place she didn't know if she could cope with at that moment.

'Where's Morgan?'

'I have a pretty clear idea.' Emily said. 'Want me to get him?' Rossi nodded and she left the room trying to keep it cool as this was no time for added tension on the team, it wasn't the break she needed, nor was Derek the person she was in the mood to talk to but he was needed. Petty fights were drawing them apart, she had felt their relationship being ripped apart slowly, the distance between them growing, the silence that used to be intimate when they hugged now felt friendly, almost brotherly sisterly, not the way it should do seeing as they switched between one another's places every night.

She pushed the door opened and found him staring at the pin board Penelope had on the wall, mixed together was her personal and work life. Derek had ripped one of the photo's off, one of them two hugging, him pushing a kiss to her head. Emily remembered the picture being taken no more than 3 weeks after Penelope was shot. Again the assertion of something between being all wrong hit her again.

'Derek...' She said softly so not to make him jump but loud enough to get his attention. 'Rossi's called a meeting.'

He slid the picture into his pocket. 'Come on then.' They walked down the corridor, the distance evident again. When they walked into the conference room and took seats they didn't sit next to one another, far from it, almost opposite one another.

'Morgan, Prentiss we understand if you want off, we know how personally involved you are.'

'I can do this.' Derek said as he leant on the table and gave his full attention.

'Yeah, me too.' Emily agreed and relaxed into her chair showing she wanted and needed to be involved in this as much as the rest of them, at the end of the day they were all involved personally.

'Okay.' Rossi said with a nod. 'IA have started to go through Hotch's computer to find out if there is anything that Hotch was doing without the team.'

'Garcia...' Derek started.

'They're going down now to do the same, emails, documents, internet history, you name it, it will be cross matched with every case we have done, every case that we have called Garcia in to help us with will be checked. Everything just so we can get them back.'

'You don't think they were involved in something, do you?'

'We have to rule everything out... it can't be case related, if it is, we would have been linked to it too somehow, something just doesn't add up.' He looked at the team. 'JJ what did the news stations say?'

'Well CNN, FOX and CBS were sent it from an anonymous viewer, I've got techs going to their head quarters to pin point but if these people are clever then it would be routed around millions of satellites.'

'If this is something to do with Hotch and Garcia and they know Garcia's skill... surely they would use her to send it on without leaving any evidence of its origins?' Prentiss said observing that this was non case related. 'Hotch has done this before, he has had a case looked into without the rest of us and only when he was certain let us in.' The idea bounced from one another, scenarios being forced to explore, situations being made loud and clear.

They watched one of the younger agents walk in with a mass of paper work. 'Agent Rossi... we found something on both of the computers.'

'What is it?' Rossi asked whilst surveying the paper work, he noticed the top one was an email; whether from Hotch's system or Garcia's was unclear from such a distance

**'It seems that Agent Hotchner and Technical Analyst Garcia were looking into something on the side.' The agent said ominously, unable to disclose the exact nature of the case to the colleagues as yet.**


	3. Trial and Punishment

**Disclaimer**: We do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

We'd like to thank everyone who read... and especially those who reviewed... it meant a lot!

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Penelope was petrified, frozen to the spot as she felt the bag being removed from her head, only to be replaced by the cool steel of a gun muzzle and the feel of a rough hand forcing her to look straight on, straight into a camera. She looked dead on, not wanting to give her captors, whoever they were, the satisfaction of seeing her flinch. She remained calm and collected, holding it all inside where she was silently praying, praying to a god she wasn't even sure existed. But Derek did, and it seemed to help him. Derek. Her mind stilled at that. He'd surely be sent this video; the _team _would be sent this video. Surely that must at least double her chances of being found. When the men - and she was sure they were men - dropped the bags back over her head she let the mask slip and the worry overtake her features.

It was when she heard shuffling beside her that she realised someone else was there in the room with her. She heard a door click shut, and the clearing of a throat along with muffled breathing.

"Garcia?" a voice asked and a lump formed in her throat, it was Hotch. She was so consumed with the camera that she was being forced to look at she hadn't realised he was with her.

'Hotch?'

'Yeah... you okay?'

'I've been better... how about you?'

'I'm okay.' He said like the stoic boss he always showed. They both heard a door open, the bags ripped off harshly, Penelope gasped as she felt some straggled hair taken with it, both Hotch and Penelope blinked allowing their eyes to adjust to the sudden light change. The sting still lasting as someone stood in front of them, towering over their knelt down bodies.

'Work starts tomorrow... for now, you rest.'

'The video...' Hotch started. 'Who did you send it to?'

'Ah... I suppose you suspect your team would receive it.' He saw the pair hesitantly nod and laughed. 'Let's just say possibly millions of people have viewed it so far.'

'Millions?'

'It was streamed to news channels and the internet.'

'Why?'

'Because we mean business.' He then nodded and two new figures grabbed Hotch and Penelope and lead them to a new room, one with two beds in, Penelope was slammed down first her arms unbound only for one to be hand cuffed to the railing at the head of the bed. She watched as the same happened to Hotch on the opposite side of the room just more forcefully.

'Rest... especially you Agent Garcia... we need you on the ball tomorrow.' Before she could question the motives of the next day the men were gone. She was calling them men, she only knew one was male as he was the only one to speak, if she had to analyse the silent pair, one had the body of Derek, tall, well built, strong whereas the one that dealt with her was more like Reid.

'You don't think they're to do with the case do you?'

'I have a feeling it is Garcia...' Hotch said as the lights were shut off and only moonlight streamed through the miniscule window on the ceiling of the room. 'I'm going to guess that's our cue.' Hotch said and saw the darkened figure of Penelope attempt a comfortable position, all the time remaining silent. He didn't realise he had fallen asleep, he had spent half the night feeling like it was up to him to watch over Penelope the best he could. He now noticed the light streaming in was daylight and sat up to get his bearings for whatever the day ahead held, he remembered the man picked Penelope out at basically the start of the day and that unnerved him. If they were here for what he thought then she was being used for her skills, if they just happened to be kidnapped beings, which he felt very unlikely due to the use of names and the knowledge of the team, he had no idea what would roll out with the hours.

Penelope woke up not long after Hotch and they spoke about everything other than where they were, they spoke about work, the last case, future cases that might pull them away, when Penelope was shot, when Hotch was shot, they shared the experiences of it all, and lastly they both shared their feelings on the relationship boom of Derek and Emily and how the initial love had seemed to fade and now they seemed to loathe long periods with one another.

All conversation halted as the door opened slowly and the men from yesterday entered, Penelope was again un cuffed first before feeling the tightness of ropes around her wrist, she kept eye contact with Hotch, never noticing before how much power the man's eyes held, they seemed to exude strength and she took it, not willing to give up, if the video was on the news, the team knew, the team were on their way. She was pushed from the room as Hotch was bound forcefully yet silently.

The place they were in couldn't be too big, the rooms seemed to be almost on top of one another, yet each room seemed spacious and in seriously need of furniture. The new room held two chairs, one against a wall facing the other, the other fixed in front of a small table and a state of the art laptop, the moment Penelope's and Hotch's eyes saw that laptop they knew they were in too deep.

'You get a drink, then you do what we say.' The male that had hold of Penelope said, the chair by the laptop was pulled and Penelope was tied to it while Hotch was tied opposite the space in the middle of the room seemed to stretch mountainous lengths. The distance actually killing the pair as they realised that they needed the closeness of someone known to them. They were forced to drink the water, and when the cool liquid hit their lips they actually lavished the soothing sensation it brought, making evident of how far their dehydration was.

**The bottles were taken away too soon and the two were left savouring the last drops that trickled down their throats before the sudden loss of water was not their main concern as the two men circled them, watching them, before they both positioned themselves directly behind Garcia. One flanking each shoulder. The unpleasant sensation that shot up her spine at their proximity and the fact that she could not see them left her looking to Hotch for guidance. When her eyes met his, she saw the steely resolve and once again fed off of his strength, his courage, and remained still, not moving to face the two men. Instead she sat looking straight ahead and into the face of her boss, her colleague and her friend. **

**A few moments of silence passed, during which Hotch never blinked, always watching the two men, analysing them. So when the skinnier of the two took a short step forward he saw it, and the move registered on his face. He blinked, a short rapid blink, as the urge to struggle from his bindings and stop them from moving anywhere near his tech, his trusted colleague and his friend intensified.**

**'See those documents there? On that list..?' Came the voice of the thinner man in Garcia's ear and she flinched inwardly, she hadn't expected him to be quite so close. When she didn't answer he continued, ' You're going to find them for us and delete them.' This wasn't a request, it wasn't even a question, it was a demand. **

**'And why would I do that?' she asked suddenly, finding her voice. **

**'Because you will do as we say or you and your little friend over there will feel some...discomfort.' He said sinisterly and she immediately knew that this man was not kidding, he would not hesitate to doll out a little 'punishment' for not succumbing to his demands. And yet, even in knowing this instinctively, she knew she would not do what he asked, she couldn't, once she did it they would no longer be needed, and not being needed certainly meant death. And she did not intend to die in helping an unsub get away with his crimes. She shook her head slowly as her eyes met Hotch's in a silent question: am I doing this right? In reply he gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head and she relaxed slightly knowing she had made the correct move.**

**That was a mistake. The second her head stilled there was a loud smack as the man's hand made contact with her cheek, her head lolling to the side and tears prickling in her eyes. Hotch called out in protest, his usual role as protector of his team not diminishing as he watched the small trickle of blood mark itself on Penelope's cheek.**

'**You going to do it now?' Penelope, after regaining most of her composure again, looked at Hotch, same method of thought, if she did this they were goners, so she shook her head. This time she felt a heavier fist make contact with her cheek and felt the sharp pain of something giving way slightly, her head buzzed painfully as she took longer to regain any type of normalcy, she could feel Hotch's voice penetrating her head as he screamed for her to remain as unhurt as possible.**

**She ignored the voice of the skinnier man as he pressurized her to do what they wanted her to do yet she remained resilient she knew the discomfort was bound to increase, she didn't care she would see this decision out or so she thought as the cold metal of a blade sliced her skin slightly on her throat.**

'**Now Penelope... are you going to comply?' She didn't respond immediately, frozen from pure shock, fear and pain. Her eyes met Hotch's and he told her to give up, his eyes filled with guilt that she was cut and hurt, her mind was racing and she felt the knife dig deeper, the blood seeping out and down her neck, her breath getting shorting with the added pressure.**

'**I'll do it.' She gasped and the knife pushed more before releasing, she wanted to nurse her neck but felt the chair being moved closer to the laptop, her arms were then unbound.**

'**No smart arsed moves... if you do, he gets it.' She nodded, she would not risk Hotch life that. 'I'll be nice... you do one and then its video time.' He placed the list in front of her. 'That one.' He pointed with the blooded knife, Hotch analysed that he was brandishing it to intimidate Penelope and it was working, he watched her type slowly and despondently as she went against everything she believed in.**

'**Done.' She croaked several minutes later, her voice thick with anger, pain, grief, uneasiness and regret. She was then made to stand up as her hands were bound behind her, the same routine followed as Hotch received the same treatment, they were then lead out of the room and to the room where the first video was made, the second one was about to commence.**


	4. Demands and an Execution

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

We'd like to thank everyone who read... and especially those who reviewed... it meant a lot!

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The first night came, and Derek and Emily stayed at the bureau to try and puzzle it out. Hotch and Garcia were looking into government official documents being destroyed, deleted, obliterated from the face of the virtual world and thus the entire world. They couldn't work it out, after Battle, they would've thought Penelope would decline such tasks, something still didn't add up. There had to be a major threat here for Penelope to step in.

Derek placed a cup of coffee down and woke Emily up from her slumber, she shot awake with a smile that loosened before disappearing, it wasn't a dream, she was still loving a man that could die, and she was in a relationship with a man she knew who's heart laid with another person that wasn't her.

'What's the time?' Emily asked before she took a large gulp of her drink.

'Just coming up 8... Rossi's just on his way in so are JJ and Reid.'

'How long you been up?'

'About 2 hours.' Derek answered back, not giving her the details that he had been in Penelope's office just sitting looking at the photo's of them all, the small minor details that made Penelope her.

A knock rattled on the door and both Derek and Emily turned. 'Agent Morgan, Prentiss... there are 4 men downstairs' they claim to be Agent Garcia's brothers.'

'Send them up.' Derek said immediately and left the conference room to be confronted with Rossi and JJ. As the day before Reid trudged in hastily.

'News!'

JJ put the news on and they watched the news roll out once again.

_**New footage of the abduction of Aaron Hotchner and Penelope Garcia has just been received.**_

The woman's voice continued to speak before the video feed came on. Hotch was knelt down, his body language squared, stoic, evident of a leader, whereas Penelope's body language was docile, passive, jumpy and it only became obvious when she was made to look into the camera and the harsh starting of a bruise as it began its creeping ivy effect over the left side of her face became clear, they saw the blood trickle, and then they all froze as they saw the slice to her neck.

_**The video shows the steps taken by the abductors as wounds have been inflicted... with no leads to the origins of the second video all we can do is await the further fall out.**_

'Why isn't Hotch hurt?'

'Disobedience.' Rossi commented as he noticed the wounds inflicted. 'They've asked her to do something but she hasn't done it, thus awarding herself a beating, the knife to her throat had to be the final straw.'

'What are you doing to get our sister back?' Came an angered voice from behind them, the remaining team members turned at hearing the unknown male.

'Can we help you?'

'We're Penelope's brothers... now what are you doing to get her back?'

'We are doing all we can at the moment.' JJ said, automatically slipping into her role as liaison.

'Yeah, because standing around _chatting_ is doing all you can.' snarled the taller of the four men.

At the tone of the man's voice, Derek's frustration burst to the surface and he stepped towards the brute of a man, his voice low and dangerous, he ground out: 'We are doing all we can. Don't even think we are not doing everything we can to get your sister and our friend back.'

JJ placed a hand in his arm, softly but firmly pulling him back from the men and turning him to face her. 'Calm down.'

Morgan ran a hand over his head and sighed, before turning back to the men, his frustration now under wraps and his voice back to normal level.

'Derek Morgan.' He introduced himself, offering them each his hand to shake and he thought he saw something, recognition maybe, flicker in their eyes before he introduced the rest of the team. They introduced themselves, Andy was the eldest, George and Carl were the middle children and Joel was the youngest. Greetings were exchanged before Derek handed over to Rossi who briefly explained the situation to them.

Emily watched as Derek paced the room, his mind in obvious turmoil, much like hers was too, and she knew that this was it. There was no longer a 'them', and 'us'. They were back to being Emily and Derek, friends, colleagues, and occasional confidantes. And she realised she was more than happy with that. What she wasn't happy with however was that Hotch and Penelope were not here with them, and as much as she loved her friend she couldn't help but feel that her concern for Hotch was more than just a friendly concern, it was like an instinctual pull, something she couldn't control.

The brothers stayed in the bull pen, constantly asking questions about their sister, wanting to know everything about her. Each member of the team told them their part of her life and each said the same thing: 'Talk to Derek.' It caused the brothers to wonder just what Derek Morgan's relationship with their sister was exactly, and Joel decided to take it upon himself to find out.

Derek was pacing the hallway, his mind going into overdrive of all the situations that Penelope and Hotch could be in right now, wondering if she was more hurt than earlier, praying she wasn't and that they would be able to find them. He jumped slightly when the door to the bull pen opened and Joel came strolling out.

'What'd you need?' Derek asked the younger man, pausing mid pace and turning to face him.

'I don't need anything as such, I was just wondering if you could tell me a bit about Pen, we kind of drifted apart recently and yeah, I wanna-'

'She's not dead!' Derek suddenly exclaimed, and Joel instinctively took a step back, wondering what the outburst was all about. 'She's alive, we know that, we'll get her back, don't ask that as if you won't see her again.'

When Derek ran out of steam he immediately apologised, his eyes showing his regret for jumping down his throat.

'It's ok. You two must have been pretty close.' Joel said, taking a step towards the now calm man.

'What makes you say that?' Derek asked, and Joel laughed slightly before answering:

'We've heard your name mentioned a...few...times whenever we did talk, you just about punched me in the face for asking about her _like that_.' Derek cringed. 'And everyone else says if we want to know anything you should 'talk to Derek'. It's not rocket science.' He continued with a smile.

'She's my best friend.' Derek said softly, and Joel did not miss the sadness and maybe a hint of longing in his words. Derek waited a second, a small smile forming on his face before he spoke again: 'She's the kindest person you'll ever meet, she's funny, smart, do anything for anyone, and she's...she's...a great friend.' Derek trailed off with this thought and a small sigh escaped from his lips.

Joel smiled a knowing smile before placing a hand on Derek's shoulder. 'Like you said, we'll get them back.'

While Derek was lost in thoughts of Penelope, she was feeling a little lost herself. Her mind was not as sharp as it usually was, the pain dulling her senses slightly. She looked over at Hotch as once again the skinny man positioned her in front of the camera, her hands and feet remaining bound to the chair.  
'It's simple really; all you have to do is read what's on the cards.' The thin man said patronisingly.  
When she shook her head in response his hand shot out, smacking across her cheek once again. She groaned in pain as her head lolled to the side before she looked up to see the bigger man next to Hotch - who was sitting behind the camera likewise bound to a chair - with a knife to his neck. The same knife that was stained with her own blood.

'Ok.' she conceded and the thin man smiled at her sinisterly before sitting the card with her 'script' on it in front of her, turning on the camera before moving behind her to ensure she said only what she was supposed to.

'News. Now.' Rossi bellowed from his office, and immediately the TV was turned on and the anchor's voice could be heard throughout the room.

_**Another video has been released of FBI, BAU agents Aaron Hotchner and Penelope Garcia. It seems that the kidnappers have made their demands.**_

Everyone in the bull pen drew breath and Emily's heart clenched when only Penelope was in the shot. What had happened to Hotch? The same thought was running through each and every team members' minds, but Emily was frozen, petrified by worry. They all analysed Penelope, the bruise harsher, more prominent, more damaging. Her eyes were filled with tears making evident of a new beating. The camera then zoomed in then out and Hotch came into view enough to see he was behind Penelope, the knife to his throat, legs and arms bound, a man standing behind him, all in black, no skin showing, no clear description but that he was well built.

They watched Penelope suck in a breath, her eyes not on the camera, they knew then that she was reading, this wasn't all her, the profilers in them, the experience they had made them realise what was happening.

'_**I will not give you their names, nor will I give out any information as to what they look like. Myself and Aaron are being held for the reason that lies with the case we were looking into, money was being laundered and put in offshore accounts, I was used to check and disband as much as the activity as possible, I will now be used to help delete any government official documents and anything else that seizes to become an importance, once completed...' **_She gasped, her eyes went wide, a gun moved towards the side of her head, she closed her eyes._** 'Once completed Aaron and myself shall be executed.'**_

The feed went dead. Everyone stood in complete silence, tears brimming and spilling on their faces. 'They messed up; they knew she wouldn't be able to carry it off so they proved it by the gun, but the final threat.' Rossi said, after years in this kind of business taught him a lot. 'Plus she called him Aaron, when did we last call Hotch anything other than Hotch? The only ones in this team Garcia calls by first name is usually Derek.'

'How can we question that?' Derek asked, his head whirling.

'It's so final.' Emily stated scared witless at what they had just been shown.

'What they are up to... they need Garcia more than that film appears to show... she knows how to get what they want without leaving a bread crumb of a trail... she's gold dust to them.' Rossi said keeping his cool as per usual. 'They _need_ her, they won't kill her.'


	5. Knowledge and Admittance

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

We'd like to thank everyone who's reading... and especially those who have been reviewing... it means a lot!

----------------------------------------------------

'So, what do we know?' Rossi asked as he entered the conference room and looked around at the members of the team who were sat there, safe, and he knew they all felt the hole where the other two agents should be, but they had to stay focused if they were to help their friends. They watched the four brother's follow in and stand at the back ready to hear how the team hailed as the 'finest' would work.

'They were looking into the disappearance of files in the emergency services database... Money laundering and why it went overlooked.' Reid said, picking up the note pad he'd managed to fill with any and all information he could from what the new tech had written in the file. He'd grabbed a quick look at it before it was passed along to the IA. 'And it seems that just recently they have, well Garcia has, been hacking into the mainframe-'

'Wait, we _know_ she's been hacking into the mainframe?' Morgan asked as he sat up hastily, and waited for Reid's answer. Reid nodded. 'She could do that blindfolded with one hand, and not leave a single trace.' Morgan said with certainty and the rest realised he was right, Penelope Garcia was a genius at what she did, she would not be leaving traces like this…unless…unless she was doing it on purpose.

The remaining team members shared a small smile, the woman was a genius. There was no doubt about that. She was sending them a clue, giving them a trail to follow. Rossi was out of the door like a shot, barreling down the hallway to inform the tech of their discovery, hoping and praying that this new guy could follow Garcia's trail and help them find them.

The new tech was startled when the door to the office was flung open and David Rossi followed it in, his voice loud and demanding when he spoke. 'Follow that trail. Garcia knows what she's doing. She laid that trail, find it.'

'Yes sir.' The slightly intimidated tech replied, hoping that he would be able to follow the trail of the best tech the pool had.

The rest of the team were sat around the conference table, each lost in their own thoughts, although centered around their missing team mates, and friends, each had their own worries to add to the mix. They knew if the 'executions' were carried out a lot more than the esteemed work mate figures would be gone, 2 friends would be gone, and to 2 of the people in that room much more than a friend would be gone without ever uttering the words that needed to be said.

'So what has Rossi gone to do... why isn't he here?'

'We can't do much more... Garcia... Penelope left a trail... a trail that Penelope would never leave... she's clever, she knows how to cover her tracks.' Derek said. 'We found out what they were doing... we shouldn't have.'

'So what does that mean?'

'It means that whoever has her and Hotch does not know she's doing it, she's leaving us a huge bread crumb trail that we hope will give us a location... or an area where they are.' JJ added hopeful.

'Like Derek said... Penelope can do that job blind folded and one handed.'

'She's that good?' Joel asked questioningly. The team exchanged looks. 'What is it?'

Everyone looked to Derek, with no Hotch or Rossi; he was the best to deliver the news. 'Your sister got picked up by the F.B.I. for hacking important secured areas.' The brother's looked in with disbelief, seeking the joke from the team only getting nods of confirmation. Derek breathed in and continued. 'She had the ultimatum, work for the BAU and us or go to prison... she works for us, she's on a list, one of the world's best hackers, most fear her, agents and techs alike, she's too good with a computer.'

'Really?'

'You need to understand... you're sister is anything but a threat... in some ways she is, in others she isn't.'

'What does that mean?' Carl asked crossing his arms across his chest.

'She can knock into any file out there, nothing can stay untouched by Penelope, she can add and erase things as and when she likes but what she does for us is purely to help us do our job.'

'But is it all legal?' Joel asked, worried about his sister's 'talents'.

She works for the FBI.' Was the only reply he was given.

'That's comforting.' Carl said sarcastically. 'She still managed to get kidnapped when she works for you.' Some of his frustration at not being able to do anything to help being deflected on to the very agents who could help.

'We will get them back.' Emily interrupted her voice forceful. 'We have to.' she added softly.  
Silence settled on the room after the softness of Emily's reply, all those present realising that while their loved ones were being held captive, there were some very big emotional stresses and battles going on right where they were and each and every one of them could not ignore it.

The silence was loaded and Emily decided she had to get out of there, she couldn't sit there with all those people analysing her while her brain was going into over drive and her emotions were running unchecked. She excused herself from the room and headed to her desk for a breather. Derek quickly followed, noticing the same look on her face as the one he was feeling: worry mixed with regret and a good dose of realisation.

'Emily.' He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly; she had not heard him approaching.

'What is it Derek?' She asked exasperatedly, not really wanting to deal with him just now, not knowing how to tell him that she couldn't do 'them' any more.

'I…I…think maybe we need to talk.' He said, getting it out in one breath.

You think?' She asked with a soft laugh. 'Of course you do.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' He asked indignantly.

'You think we have to talk, you finally realise that we actually need to talk about things instead of running off to 'somewhere'.' she said, insinuating that she knew exactly where that somewhere was.

'She's my best friend, where else was I going to go?' Derek said, catching on to her insinuation.  
She exhaled slowly, and shook her head. 'It doesn't even matter any more Morgan, neither of us can honestly say that we are the best things for each other, now or ever.'

In reply he sighed loudly, pulling up a chair next to her. 'We work as friends Emily, maybe this was what we needed to see that we are not supposed to be together.' He admitted softly before adding: 'We will get them back, and when we do you should tell him.'

She laughed softly. 'That obvious, huh?' She asked, and he smiled in reply. 'And you should tell her. Oh don't play dumb Morgan; we both know there's been more than just friendship between you two. I saw it when I joined, even went so far as to ask JJ if you were together.'

She laughed at Morgan's slightly stunned expression before his expression relaxed into a smile.  
'Well Hotch must be blind if he doesn't see what's right in front of him.' He said, smiling encouragingly at her before squeezing her shoulder reassuringly and heading back into the conference room, the weight on his shoulders now lighter although it remained significantly heavy with their friends' fates still unclear.

Emily watched him go back into the conference room and sit next to JJ, answering her questioning gaze with a few whispers. Turning back to the TV to see if there were any more updates, Emily did a double take. If she was not mistaken, and she _must _be, Hotch had just walked by the bullpen doors.  
Scrambling out of her seat she just about sprinted to the doors, flinging herself through them and frantically looking up and down the corridor. Nothing. She shook her head at her stupidity, of course it wasn't Hotch, it was just her tired brain playing tricks on her, or else she was going crazy. That was just as likely she felt.

'Excuse me?' A deep voice asked from her right and she turned to face the direction from which the voice had come.

'Yeah?' She said, doing another double take, the man before her did look like Hotch, a bit, so she wasn't going crazy after all.

'I'm looking for the BAU offices. My brother, Aaron, he's on the news and I had to come down and…'  
'Uh, they're in here.' she said, ushering the brother of the man she had now admitted to herself that she loved into the offices. She only wished they had better news to tell him.


	6. Punishable

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

We'd like to thank everyone who's reading... and especially those who have been reviewing... it means a lot!

----------------------------------------------------

While the team filled in Sean Hotchner about the happenings of his brother's abduction, Penelope and Hotch were discussing the latest roll out of events.

'You know you should tell her.' Penelope whispered in the darkness not knowing whether or not they were being listened to or if they had privacy in the dank small room.

'You should tell him.' Hotch countered, deflecting the conversation away from himself. He heard her laugh. 'Crazy how you always love those who are taken isn't it?'

'Morgan's never been mine...'

'He has, we all see the way he looks at you, the smiles, the nicknames, the banter...' Hotch began. 'Almost from the words baby girl.' He finished up certain.

She laughed softly. 'I think you have it the other way around.' Hotch remained silent, prompting her to continue. 'I never had him but he...had...me. You're right, from those two words that was it... nobody was going to be able to compare to him. How could they, I loved him?'

'You need to tell him that then.' Hotch implored.

'If we get out of this.' She replied, her voice lacking its usual confidence.

'We will get out of this, the teams looking for us, they're bound to have found out our little secret, they're bound to follow leads.' He commented, trying to profile his team from afar. 'But they're going to kill us after.'

'No win situation... do what we're told here and die... get out and have a team of angry question bearing FBI agents gang up on us... what choices.' Penelope quipped sarcastically.

'But we _will _get out, that's all that matters. The team is smart, they will find us, don't doubt your abilities now.' Hotch said, refraining from saying just what she had done in case they were being listened to.

'I know it may have kind of escaped that big old brain of yours Boss Man, but it doesn't matter what I do if they can't find us with a new tech.'

'Penelope, don't start doubting them now, we have to stay strong, we will get out.' Hotch said with feeling before the two jumped as the door to the room was flung open and their captors came in.

'Wasn't that a nice heartfelt conversation.' The thin man sneered at them before motioning to his accomplice who proceeded to drag the two of them to sit side by side with their arms and legs still bound tightly.

'We couldn't help but overhear.' He said, bringing a small tape recorder from his pocket, pressing play and skipping to the bits he wanted them to hear: '_don't doubt your abilities now…it doesn't matter what I do if they can't find us with a new tech.'_

'Sounds like someone's being setting us up. And we don't appreciate that, not one bit.' He sneered, his voice hard and his eyes burning with barely suppressed rage. 'What did you do?' He ground out, the anger reaching the surface a little more.

Penelope once more looked to Hotch for guidance, but when she tried to turn her head the man's hand shot out, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. Her head was forced back around, her eyes open wide with fear. 'Na-uh, keep those eyes of yours over here. _What did you do?_' He asked again, his eyes threatening as the other man set up the camera equipment in front of the threesome.

'I... I... I...' Penelope stumbled.

'I... I... I...' The man mocked her. 'Spit it out sweetheart... what did you do?' He repeated at her, the anger hitting jackpot point now. 'Well... what the hell did you do?'

His anger & the use of a nickname usually only heard from one man seemed to change something in her, as if she was no longer afraid of the man stood before her with a look of pure rage in his eye and a weapon on his hip. She was drawing strength from the one place she knew it would never run out, from her memories of her best friend, of her dark knight. 'I made sure they could find us.' She replied defiantly.

A second of silence fell on the room and all that could be heard was the sound of heavy breathing and the beeping of the camera as it warmed up. The silence was shattered by a loud crack punctuated by a yelp as the thin man reacted to the news, his hand once more making contact with her face. Tears stung her eyes but she refused to let them fall as he ground out: 'you will undo what you did. Now and we'll even show it to your little friends.' He jeered, indicating that the camera was now recording and streaming video to the news stations.

'No.' She stated, her voice only slightly shaky. Another crack sounded, this time her yelp was louder as his hand met with her already tender cheek.

'Say that again?'

'No.' she repeated, not backing down. She steeled herself for another slap. It didn't come.

Instead, a shrill laugh pierced the air as he revelled in her fear, at the fact that she was saying no and yet she was terrified. He was convinced he could break her. In an effort to do so he motioned to his accomplice and then to Hotch. If she wasn't bothered about being hurt, maybe him being hurt would do the trick.

Hotch grimaced, steeling himself for the beating he was sure was coming while he tried to look eyes with Penelope, trying to tell her he would be fine, to stay strong. At least for a little bit longer. Give the team as much of a chance as they could to find them. But when he met her eyes finally, the first punch was delivered to his midsection and the wind was knocked out of him. She saw the pain and a hint of panic in his eyes as he tried to give her comfort, give her strength and she wanted nothing more than to prevent him from any more harm. Although her analytical side told her he was an agent, he could handle some of this, to give it a bit more time. She winced every time a new blow landed and with each new one the urge to yell out to stop them heightened, but the looks he was flinging her way told her that he would be ok. Silent tears streamed down her face as she watched her friend being hurt and when their eyes met again and she saw the red welt across his cheek and heard his squeak in pain as another sharp blow landed she could no longer sit in silence and watch his suffering.

'NO!' she cried out. 'STOP! I'll fix it, I'll do whatever you say.' she pleaded through her tears.

'Good girl.' The thin man said patronisingly, his hand striking Hotch's face once more causing him to yelp slightly, a small exclamation of pain slipping through his barrier. The computer and table and chair were placed in front of the camera and Penelope was hoisted into the seat before her hands were undone and re attached, more loosely to the chair arms to allow her to work. Once again she felt the familiar cold steel of the gun muzzle pressed to her head. Silent tears continued to mar her cheeks as she began to type.

'Get rid of the little trail you set.' The thin man ordered before he aimed his voice at the camera: 'your little treasure hunt is about to come up with nothing but cyber space.' He mocked.

As his words registered with the team watching it via the news, their hearts all sank. No this couldn't be happening! Derek thought to himself, they had to find them! He ran out of the bull pen, heading for Penelope's office to see how the tech was doing.

'I'm almost there.' He said exasperatedly as he saw Derek come charging through the door. He had worked in the BAU building and had known about Penelope Garcia and so he knew exactly what he was up against when Derek Morgan put on an infinite fight to protect her once more.

'You have to work faster!' Derek commanded as he turned the TV that was in the room on to the news, just in time to see Penelope look up at the camera for just a second & his heart almost broke, she was terrified, that much he knew. The tech saw the headline under the footage & his fingers began moving furiously, knowing he didn't have a lot of time. The rest of the team & the brothers all filed into the room behind Derek, each & every face tense with fear and worry. They stood transfixed as the tech continued to work and the video showed Penelope's fingers working their magic on the laptop as Hotch tried to control his reactions to the bruising and cuts already forming. The whole room was holding its collective breath as Penelope's fingers began to slow and the tech's sped up in inverse proportion. And when she stopped all together and looked up. They all saw the tear stained pathways on her cheeks and the fear & utter terror on her face. She had just destroyed their only way of being found.

'Looks like your trail just went cold.' The thin man sneered.

'Sorry' she mouthed to the camera.

The thin man saw her lips move, his anger snapping once more. 'Did you not learn your lesson before?!...fine! I'll just have to teach you again!' he yelled before bringing the butt of the gun that had been keeping her working down with a sickening thud as it made contact with her head. The whole room stood in shock as the feed was lost and the screen went black once more. The news readers voice was drowned out by exclamations of disbelief and the cries of the friends as the realization of what they had just watched sunk in.

The collective noises also drowned out the continual taping of the keyboard as the tech's fingers still flew over the keys. 'I've got it.' He called out in disbelief and shock and they soon fell silent before Rossi sped into action, barking 'Where?' as the words left the tech's lips the rest of the team were all waiting, now poised and ready to go and save their friends.

'An old storage unit building out by West Virginia, address sending to your PDA's now.' Not two seconds after the words had been formed and registered, the team was on the move, Rossi's booming voice heard above the rest giving orders as they pulled ranks and headed to retrieve their colleagues, their friends.


	7. Urgency

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

We'd like to thank everyone who's reading... and especially those who have been reviewing... it means a lot!

----------------------------------------------------

'You better hope that was deleted in time, for your sakes and your teams.' The thin man said evilly leaning Penelope as she clutched her head & tried to hide the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. 'Come on lady, you have still got some work to do.' He said without sympathy, 'still got some more things we need done.'

'No.' She replied through tears, ignoring the throbs as the blood drizzled through her hair, she would take the punishment, she wasn't about to ruin society for everyone.

'Stupid girl.' He said and smacked her harder with gun not caring what damaged he caused, her had a plan, and she was his root to it. He then grabbed her hair and pulled her head as he twisted her hair in his fist making her scream with pain, making her stomach turn. 'Now you listen here, you do as we say or else.' He noticed her unmoving, her last decision stuck firm. 'Now you will do as we ask and no one gets hurt.'

'We know that isn't the truth.' She literally groaned as the pains intensified, she heard hushed tones of conference; she strained her eyes and looked up at Hotch to see anguish and helplessness ingrained in his eyes, a sight she had never seen before and hoped she never would see it. She felt the reward come as the connection of metal ripped through her head, the damage was done, sickeningly she felt something give and knew it was good especially seeing as the thin man had the tendency to hit her in the same spot.

Penelope's face was grabbed in a harsh clench and she was made to look into the face of the thin man, the lights blaring behind him made her head feel funny. 'You will obey me... and once you're done, we'll have our fun with you lady... see men like us don't get a lot of female attention, now you're here, well lets just say you're perfect.' He felt her whimper. 'I hold true to my promises, as does my man there.' He looked more intently into her eyes. 'Now I made him promise me something... let's see if he has listened at all.' He looked at the taller man and nodded, Penelope was made to watch as the man unleashed a fury of beatings to Hotch, he untied him and took the usual stoic leader to the ground with a couple of fistful punches before kicking him in the stomach. Penelope shed more tears as she watched the man she loved as one of the closest people to her , the man she had deemed boss man that everyone had caught on with, the man that had been a friend to her when the woos of a certain couples love life got too much to grin and bear it. Now he lay unresponsive on the floor.

'Hotch!' Penelope sobbed.

'Shh! Penelope...' The thin man said. 'Don't want people to hear you now do we?' He sniggered at her bewilderment. 'Now you're job to do.'

'NO!' She screamed in refusal. 'I won't do it!'

'Penelope....'

'No!' She stood her ground, Hotch was unconscious they wouldn't use him against her if she couldn't hear him cry out in pain and she knew that much. 'I won't!'

'Fine.' Was all the thin man said as he released her face and walked away only to spin round and forcefully connect the gun again.

When Hotch woke up he was on the floor, the pains were cascading his body mainly in waves, it was silent, too silent. He lay there trying to get his bearings back, trying to decide what had happened, how long he had been out of it, what had happened to Penelope in the space of his unconscious state. It was only when he pushed himself up with his hands did he see the blood splatters, and the insentient Penelope in front of him, her blonde tresses turning red as the blood matted the curls and pooled around her.

He began to crawl towards her, the aim to help her, stem the bleed somehow, arouse her to open her eyes, to keep a grip on reality, to wait it out with him but he collapsed and fell back into an abyss where pain was a mere figment of imagination.

The team had to hand it to the tech, although not as fast as they wanted it to be, they were outside the storage unit, each and everyone ready and raring to go. They didn't need to brief, they knew the drill, they were prepared, they had colleagues, friends, family to get out.

'Morgan, JJ take the back.' Rossi said as they left the SUV. 'Reid, Prentiss with me... radio if you find anything.' They took their orders and separated, Rossi had heard part of Derek and Emily's heart to heart about their relationship, he knew they were doing the right thing, he just hoped it wasn't too late, for that reason he had separated them. They entered the building and slowly crept, the place was like a labyrinth, corridors seemed to twirl and spin, and link to endlessly other corridors and walkways, Rossi profiled the area, then he picked up a noise, a shuffle, talking. He looked at Reid and Prentiss, they had heard it too. They walked towards it and after a fifteen minute walk they found a room blazoned with lights, a computer, an empty chair in front of it, another empty chair across from it, ropes laying around. All three agents caught glimpses of two figures moving around in the room.

On the silent count of three the three agents bombed the room with a SWAT team keeping up the behind.

'We have you surrounded!' Rossi bellowed almost like a growl, anger and rage spilling out. 'Put you hands on your head and then get on to the floor.' He ordered. 'NOW!' He shouted when no response was complied to, they watched them get on the floor as SWAT swooped in and handcuffed them.

'The stupid bitch didn't do it fast enough.' The thin man ranted and then smiled remembering what they had just had to clear themselves up from. 'Hmm seems what we did was fully warranted.'

'What does that mean?' Reid asked already having a clear idea of what they meant. 'What have you done to them both?'

'Oh well Aaron sustained a beating and let's just say that gun over by the sink still needs a bit of a clean... care to look?' He said with a smirk full of evil, full of glee, his eyes literally glowing with malevolence. The three agents eyes scanned until they rested on the gun, bloody, completely covered. 'She was easy... now that boss of yours he took quite the beating, very, very strong man there... took it to keep her safe.'

'Get them out of here!' Rossi said, not wanting to hear anymore, they looked at the bigger man, he didn't speak, he was obviously the inferior one of the pair, the follower, the one that took charge once the thinner man had spoken. When they were gone he turned to those left in the room. 'I need someone to check that ambulances are ready.' He watched a SWAT member run from the room, from the state of the gun they saw the urgency. 'Everyone else... they have to be close.... separate, radio JJ Prentiss... I'll get Morgan, tell them to start looking for them.... Reid get the tech to send us a blue print of this entire building, its too big to just wander we need to know where we are going.'

'Want me to get him to tag us on it? Send one to all of us?'

'That's it Reid but quick yeah?' Rossi said getting a nod, they didn't know if they had time to question one another, they knew they didn't have time to have qualms on anything.

Now the search really began, they had the culprits they needed the victims.


	8. Beyond Wishful Thinking

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

----------------------------------------------------

Derek and JJ wasted no time in locating the others. 'Where are they?' Derek asked as he entered the room, he saw their whitened features, saw the eagerness to get going but couldn't risk getting lost. 'What's happened?'

'We got them... both of them, we got them, SWAT took them out, but they said that it seemed what they just did was fully warranted.' Rossi then turned his attention to the sink and then watched as Derek's and JJ's eyes laid on the gun.

'Fuckers!' Derek said angrily. 'So why the hell are we standing around here? We should be finding them!'

'We will when...' Their PDA's vibrated and a blueprint appeared, with a little red dot to illustrate them from their radio signals. 'This comes through... okay so there are three corridors that seem to lead to a main corridor, split and radio... let's find them now!'

No waited, everyone was gone, the map used to its highest ability. Confusion struck as they were brought together and there was only one corridor, at the end it branched off, went up in 6 directions to group together in one small room.

'This place is maze.' JJ said slightly panicked as she tried her hardest to get her head around the blueprints.

'Right... there's only one place, no doors, just one corridor lets get to the end and split, we'll be brought back together in the room there, if we have nothing we'll go in another direction but they ARE here.' Silence settled and they all rushed down the corridor, all taking a corridor, a couple of SWAT members taking the last corridor.

'Doors locked.' Reid's voice came through the radio.

'Locked for me too.' Derek said, rage coming through in large doses.

'Mine too.' JJ and Emily's voice said.

'We have an open door.' Came the SWAT leader on the radio, the team turned and started to head towards the sixth corridor, they heard footsteps and talking in the background. 'We have two unconscious casualties, one male, one female, one is bleeding heavily from a head injury, we need medics in here now, I repeat we need medics.'

Derek and Emily didn't waste time; they both got past Reid and into the room only to halt. One SWAT member was checking Hotch over, whilst the other was trying to illustrate the injuries Penelope had. The remaining 3 members of the team hit the brakes when they got the view insight. They all now understood the gun completely and the locked doors, there's was only one real entrance the others were blocked up with walls.

They saw Hotch move slightly, Emily took precedence and went to him; he wasn't listening to the people helping him as he tried to get up.

'Penelope.' He rasped, his breath rattling slightly. 'I don't know what they did to her.'

'Hotch, just lay down, there's people helping her.' Emily soothed the best she could and looked up at Derek who smiled encouragingly; Emily returned it and gave him the look that told him to get to Penelope. They watched Hotch look the best he could, the panic that filled his eyes scared them, never the look that Hotch gave.

They all watched Derek kneel down, not bothering to avoid the blood, the SWAT hadn't moved her, they didn't know what unknown injuries she had so all they could do was leave her until EMT's made it. As Emily watched Hotch give up on his grip and fall back into a painless oblivion, Derek looked over Penelope's features, he was so happy that they had found them but she was really hurt and that scared him.

Being led the right way paid off, the EMT's were down in next to no time, immediately Emily and Derek were pushed away, as assessment began. Oxygen was started; IV's were inserted, all with the pair completely oblivious. The team watched in silence as they realised that two vital parts of what made their life special looked so fragile, so dependent. There was Hotch, the boss, the stoic leader, the one in the group that could deliver the good and the bad news and be serious yet comforting at the same time, then there was Penelope, the one that burst the bubble of the bad, and brought in the torch that illuminated the dark places, that brought back their laughter but as they watched on, the pair were the opposite.

'Can you tell how bad they are?' Rossi asked, knowing full well a rough idea could be given from EMT's to give awareness.

'I say she's got a blunt force trauma to the skull, I can just about tell there is a fracture but may be worse, she also has a broken cheekbone from heavy hitting, and the cut to her throat is deeper in some places more than others, but that's all I can tell for the moment.' The EMT treating Penelope said as she continued to get her ready to be moved.

'And I'd say from his breathing a punctured lung due to a broken rib.' The EMT next to Hotch said as he looked up at the team. 'Apart from that some severe abdominal bruising.'

Once again the silence gathered and the worry expanded and the team and they listened as talk was spoken between the two sets of EMT's. 'Can't get stretchers down.' Someone spoke down the radio.

'How come?'

'Wall's width won't allow much for moving safely... its impossible.'

'Okay no worries.' The EMT said and looked up to speak to her colleagues. 'Look's like we're carrying.'

'I'll do it.' Derek said, feeling overwhelmed as he watched them work over Penelope. 'I can carry her.' He said quietly, he remembered carrying her from the couch to the bed once just after she had been shot, he knew he could handle her and he didn't want anyone else to do it.

'I'll help with Hotch.' Rossi said following Derek's lead.

'Okay we'll need some to hold the fluids.' The EMT asked, seeing them all ready to offer.

'I can help.' Emily said stepping towards Hotch, JJ moved towards Penelope, the EMT's just smiled, happy for the mass help, Reid stood lonely, not knowing quite what to do.

'Reid run outside, alert the EMT's, call Penelope's brothers and Sean get them to meet us at the hospital.' Rossi instructed noticing Reid's awkwardness from the sidelines as the drama began to unfold even more.

Derek looked down at Penelope, she had been cleared to the best of their knowledge of broken bones, or awaiting injuries so he took a breath and knelt down and picked her up in his arms, JJ behind him holding the IV drip, an EMT to his other side applying pressure the best he could to the wounds on her head. As he walked in dead silence the only thing consuming him was the yearn to feel her muscles contract as she came too and ask what the hell he thought he was doing, but he knew that was wishful thinking, but he would live with the dream.

Emily kept her eyes glued to Hotch as Rossi and an EMT carried Hotch, they had to be diligent and slow, she had enough opportunities to get a glimpse of Hotch's face, she remained focused as they walked, focused on his and Penelope's recovery. She too was midst the inner thoughts of seeing Hotch wake up but she knew she could dream, there was no way that he would do that, his body was doing what it needed to help with a recovery, by him unresponsive she prayed meant he was getting better.

It was only when they reached the breeze outside and Hotch and Penelope were taken to the ambulances that reality hit. Even more so when no one bar the EMT's were allowed in the back of the ambulances. They didn't waste time watching the leaving the ambulances, they simply got into their SUV and drove after it, now the most intensified wait would happen.


	9. Not Out Of The Woods

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

----------------------------------------------------

The ride to the hospital was tense; everyone's nerves were zinging as they pondered the fate of their friends. The worry and fear gnawed at them as they drove, each team member wanting nothing more that to hear the words: 'They're going to be ok.' But they had seen enough in their time as agents and even just as people to know that those words weren't always said, that sometimes in life the people you lost were the people you loved, and none of them wanted that to happen.

The ambulances screeched to a halt outside the A&E and the EMTs rushed to get their two patients inside, yelling instructions and stats at the doctors who came to meet them.

When the team made it, it was chaos personified, having the ability to flash a badge and flip on sirens the team weren't far behind Hotch and Penelope, the last sight of them was them being whisked into two separate rooms. The pair now separate of each other after 4 days of being taken and kept together.

Seconds ticked by, minutes slipped by and then an hour had gone by, in that time the brothers and brother of Penelope and Hotch had joined them, they hadn't seen Penelope or Hotch and almost snapped a nurse in half as she approached them with an update.

'The doctors sent me to talk to you about everything they know so far, later they'll update you fully.'

'That's okay.' Rossi said as everyone looked petrified to talk, like if they did they might say the wrong thing. 'Are they okay?' They saw the solemn look and didn't know if that was a good or bad look to be getting.

'Mr Hotchner is heading to theatre now, he has a punctured lung from multiple ribs penetrating it, we need to get the lung re-inflated as soon as possible to stabilise his breathing, he also has some minimal bleeds internally that the doctor would like to repair, apart from that he has bruising and cuts to his entire upper body that will heal on their own. He and Miss Garcia are also suffering from dehydration.'

'And Penelope?'

'She's being taken to theatre to sort a bleed on the brain out, after multiple hits in the same place she has a blunt force trauma to her head, she suffered a seizure in the ambulance which proved the severity of the hits. She has a broken cheekbone, and bruising to the entire left side of her face, a cut along her neck that to be safe a doctor is going to stitch up in surgery because it is still bleeding.'

'You said seizure... what does that mean?'

'It's the brain reacting to the trauma, we've given Miss Garcia medication to prevent any further ones occurring but we won't know the extent of the one that happened until she regains consciousness.'

'How long will it be until we can see them?'

'Give or take it an hour or two.... I can take you up to the waiting room near ICU if you'd like?' Everyone nodded and picked themselves up as much as they could after hearing the news, they then just followed the nurse and took seats in the new area.

Derek was itching with the not knowing side of life, the new room was too quiet, too colourless, too lifeless so he just got up and left. Everyone exchanged looks and then only Emily got up to follow.

'What was that about?'

The team looked to Rossi, without Hotch he was now the 'spokesman' of the group, the big daddy of them all, he took a deep breath and exhaled. 'You need to know that Derek and Penelope are best friends, from what I was told, from day one... things grew between them but neither acted on what we all saw, she went with a few, he went with a lot, then some things happened and we thought that might crack their restraints but it seems that this is the final straw.'

'Derek loves Penelope.' Emily said making them all jump.

'Emily... he can't.'

'He can... for the same reason I love Aaron, mine and Derek's relationship has been on the downward spiral for a long time now and only Penelope can pick him up, level him, never me. It was always her.'

'Emily you don't have to be doing this right now.'

'I do... this situation isn't going to get any better so what's the point in sitting around trying to be positive and then help our friends all sitting on a lie? It's not going to help that's the thing, so I'm going to find Derek and we're going to sort all of us out ready to help Pen and Hotch,' Emily said and left the room heading for the elevator.

'Can we be sure she knows what she's thinking about?'

'I heard the pair talking in the bull pen... they've known all along they weren't for each other, they just meddled in it.' Rossi said not quite knowing how to defuse the situation for the better so he let the dust settle of Emily's proclamation and the silence gathered around them, each one absorbing the repercussions of all of this.

'Aaron Hotchner?' A strong male voice said making them all jump, they hadn't seen or heard anyone approach, everyone stood and swarmed in including Derek and Emily who had come back after about 47 minutes of talking outside. The pair had seemed to survive whatever was said, and they exuded a sturdy bond, a certain solidarity. 'Are you all here for Mr Hotchner?'

'Yes.' Most said apart from the four Garcia brothers.

'Well we successfully inflated Mr Hotchner's lung, his breathing is clearer and he is able to do it on his on which is promising. We repaired multiple internal tears they were posing problematic. For now we'll keep him in the ICU for monitoring.'

'Can we see him?'

'Only a couple of you at time... there is a waiting room nearer if you'd like to go.'

'We need to wait for news on Pen.' Derek said to Rossi.

'I can let the nurses know where you are if that would help at all?' Everyone agreed and followed another medical member of staff; soon Sean, Rossi and Emily broke off and headed to Hotch's room while the others took sits as a new waiting game began. They could see that it was killing Derek even more now to know that Hotch was close but Penelope was somewhere in the hospital building alone with strangers.

The three that had broken off entered Hotch's room and just stared at him momentarily as he slept, an oxygen mask, the incessantly bleeping of a heart monitor showing a disrupted but near normal heart beat, the IV's, they shuffled in when they saw him open his eyes and stare at them before relaxing.

'You really know how to scare a little brother don't you eh?' Sean quipped happy to see his brother awake.

'Where's Penelope?' Hotch said tearing the mask off his face to demand answers. 'Is she okay? Did you get her out?'

'Aaron put the mask back on.' Rossi warned. 'Penelope is in surgery seems she pulled it out long enough for the tech to get a location.'

'In the process hurting her.... self.' He grimaced as a pain shot up through his side and his breath felt tighter. 'What happened?' He said as he observed the tube protruding his side.

'Seems you two both did a good job at not letting them kill either of you.' Emily commented slightly happier at seeing Hotch. 'You got a punctured lung.'

'And internal bleeding.'

'Not forgetting all that bruising you're sporting bro.' Sean said as he observed the masses of purpling bruises. 'If you wanted me to see you, you didn't need to document it on the news.'

'Yeah, I'll remember that for next time.' Hotch retorted all the time wanting to know more about Penelope, he felt a certain pull to know how she was, to keep looking after her the best he could. 'How bad is she? I remember the blood.'

'We really don't know a lot at this moment.'

'Guys, Pen... she's just been brought up.' Derek said, his face void of most readable emotions, he couldn't smile as he saw Hotch looking at him, his eyes prompting him to continuing. 'They managed to start draining the bleed on her brain but she...' It was then all the emotions flooded back. 'She's in a coma.' Emily stepped in and gathered him in a hug which he accepted. 'I can't lose her.'

'You won't.' Emily soothed.

'They don't know if she'll wake up though.'

'Is this the same Penelope Garcia that we all work with that we are talking about?' Derek nodded at the question Hotch asked. 'Well then keep faith in her Morgan.'

'Derek go be with her.' He nodded and left the room at the persistence of his friends, then Emily turned to Hotch, a serious face on. 'I know this isn't the time or the place but what the hell were you and Penelope thinking?'

Hotch shrunk back into the pillows at the accusatory tone in Emily's voice; he had known that question was coming; he had just hoped it would wait a little longer and that it hadn't come from her. He couldn't withhold now, not with both Emily and Sean giving him the look so he sucked in a breath but the pain filtered in at that point so he realised it and started.

'Strauss came to me; she wanted it kept air tight, no one else to know but one tech, I asked Penelope. She was the best bet to get it sorted.'

'But after Battle... how could you put her in that situation?' Emily asked knowing that Hotch as boss would only put Penelope in that predicament if she was a last result.

'I was sensitive about it, I broached it gently, I asked her if she would help, I told her what...' He hitched slightly and put a hand on his side. 'It entailed, I didn't lead her in blindfolded, I made sure she knew what she was going up against.'

'Okay, so why the hell couldn't you let us help?'

'It's money laundering... what...' They watched Hotch's face pale further and his face scrunched in pain as he literally screamed out.

'Aaron...' Sean said as he stepped in, Hotch wouldn't let him touch him, too consumed with what was happening with his body at that moment in time. He saw the heart monitor slow before stopping and making one long tone, he looked around in a panic and saw Emily running in after nurses and a doctor.


	10. Where There's A Will There's A Way

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

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'He was fine!' Sean said as he paced for the 23rd time in just over 15 minutes. Emily stepped in and placed a hand on his shoulder to halt him in progress of over thinking, if he paced his imagination ran rapid, and to let it do such a thing in a hospital was never a good plan.

'You need to wait it out, have faith in him like he told Derek to have faith in Penelope.' She soothed, amazed at her calm tones, when inside she was fretting that she had wasted her chances to prove she loved Hotch.

They saw the door open and everyone rush out, the situation in front of them screaming emergency, no one said a thing as a nurse approached them.

'Is he okay?' Emily said without actually realising it, her voice completely alien to her. Rossi stepped in, flanking Sean's right side as Emily held strong on the left.

'We are rushing Mr Hotchner back to theatre to repair a suspected ruptured spleen.'

'I thought you sorted all the internal problems.' Sean asked confused. 'I thought he was doing okay?'

'It appears that the spleen did not show any signs of tears or rupturing, it was spontaneous.'

'So what's happening?'

'The surgery will mean the removal of the spleen where his condition should stabilise.'

'He flat lined though...' Emily started as she remembered the dead straight line.

'Mr Hotchner's body was going into shock, we caught him in time, the doctor is very optimistic about it.' The nurse said calmly and politely. 'You'll be waiting a while, might be wise to get some rest, just leave your number at the nurses' station and we'll call you when He's back in ICU.' They all nodded and looked at one another.

'We'll be down the corridor, with Penelope Garcia.'

'Okay, I'll come and find you when we know anything.'

'Thank you.' They said together and walked down the corridor, to find the rest of their pack holding awkward silence in the room around Penelope. It was only then that the shit hit the fan and they realised how deep their friends were in this mess, how badly each of them valued the two people.

'What are you doing here?' JJ chocked, evidently she had shed tears, her eyes all blood shot.

'Erm...' Emily started and it was only then she felt the wind get knocked out of her.

Rossi saw the break. 'Hotch is being rushed back to surgery to sort a ruptured spleen... he was fine one minute and then it sort of hit him and he started to go into shock... the doctors optimistic though.' He said trying to waiver the fears and worries. He looked at Penelope as everyone stared at the three of them. 'Any change?'

'None... it's just a waiting game.' Andy said as he sat on the left side of Penelope, a gap between his and her body, no connection being made or tried at all. They nodded and sat in available spots. Derek was drawn close, his hand in hers as though using it to will her to wake up silently. They realised then he was the only one to not steal his eyes away.

His boss and best friend mingling with the terror of life he felt at Penelope's unresponsive state. The magnitude of both situations hit him and he sucked in a strangled breath, his eyes leaving Penelope to connect with Emily's, seeing the same fear, worry and hurt would reflect back at him. He didn't want to miss anything, the flicker of an eyelid, the curling of her lips, anything. As he clung to her hand and willed her to wake up he was oblivious to the many pairs of eyes on him. She was the only thing he could see. It was only when Rossi clapped a hand down on his shoulder that he was jolted from his own world and told of the danger that befell Hotch. His heart sunk, worry for the pair grew. The others watched as the two fallen lovers shared a look which told of their shared pain, worry, and fear of loss of the one they loved. They had an understanding of the others' feelings, and as they spoke volumes with their eyes the rest looked on in amazement at the strength they were able to draw from each other.

From their shared pain and circumstances Derek sucked in a breath. 'Hotch'll be ok, they can fix that, he's strong.' Derek said softly.

'Pen won't leave you; she'll come back to us, to YOU.' Emily reassured immediately like a knee jerk reaction to hearing Derek's voice before silence enveloped the room. Not two seconds later there was the familiar pitter patter of feet as the nurse came towards that room. They occupants of the room who were not in a bed connected to all sorts of machines held their collective breath as the door slid open to reveal the familiar nurse. It was only then they realised how much time had lapsed in their joint silent comfort.

'Mr Hotchner is back up from surgery now.'

'Is he okay?' Sean asked, feeling slightly repetitive.

'He's stable.' She smiled. 'He's not awake yet but he is doing better now.' She looked at each of the members in the room. 'You're welcome back down now.'

'Go.' Derek said immediately. 'Hotch needs you now.' He said looking at Emily, his eyes welling that Hotch was nearing the edge of the woods, that Emily would hear his voice, that she could grasp her opportunity and tell Hotch everything. Sean, Emily and Rossi just stood and left, now two willing games began.

It wasn't until the next day that they all regrouped again, leaving the nurses and doctors to do the necessities, the 4 Garcia brothers had left Derek to continue his vigil for Penelope, not wanting to disturb it throughout the night. Whereas the team couldn't move Sean and Emily from Hotch's room as he still slept off the trauma from the past hours. Now they sat in the canteen trying to strive for the conversation they all needed to create as a diversion from their train of thought. It was Derek who silently stood and left his food completely untouched, again it was Emily who stood and followed him.

'Derek.' She whispered gently as she found him sitting on a bench, his head bent forward, his hands either side of it, his elbows resting on his legs. 'Derek.' She said louder as she approached more.

'Emily.... I... I just want to be alone.'

'No you don't.' He looked up at her, the tears not being hidden anymore. 'You need us more than ever right now.'

'I don't know what I want; I don't know quite how to be right now.'

'Be you.'

'I can't.'

'Why not?'

'I realised last night, what if she wakes up and she doesn't love me.' Emily went to speak but thought better of it. 'I'm putting all this trust in that she'll miraculously wake up and want to be with me but I don't know how she'll be, she might just see us as friends, but the selfish thing is, is that I don't know if I can cope with her being just my friend.'

'She loves you.' Was all Emily mastered after hearing Derek's truthful confession.

'It's okay to say it but you aren't Pen. I don't get why I didn't just try harder after she was shot.'

'Derek you didn't because you knew you didn't want her to be forced into a predicament that she wasn't sure about... you did it to make sure she got through the whole Battle situation, you did it because you love her more than anything to see her get hurt.'

'But I failed that didn't I?'

'Derek! You can't protect us all, all of the time! We have to learn from our mistakes!'

'How do we learn from this Em? How do we look at the pair of them and learn from what's happened?'

'By loving them.' Emily said as she grabbed his hand in hers. 'You love Pen the way you have been and you'll be fine, she'll wake up and shoot a nickname and you'll get the courage and tell her because she deserves the right to know, she deserves to know that her best friend loves her as much as she loves her best friend.' Derek looked at her shocked. 'That's how I know she loves you.'

'She told you?'

'She did but she vowed to never venture there, she would rather die than lose you from her life... doesn't that say something Derek?' Emily questioned him. 'It screams how much she loves you so if you love her as much as I've realised since we started an US then you'll prove it and you'll be happy with your decision.'

'Just promise me one thing?'

'Anything.'

'Don't let Hotch slip through your fingers.'

'As long as you won't let Pen do the same.'

'Promise.' He said quietly, she smiled and kissed his cheek before standing and looking at him.

'Come on Morgan, you're leaving a lovely woman alone upstairs, I'm sure your voice could break through her hard head barriers.' He couldn't help but laugh, as he stood and made the journey back to Penelope's room.

When they turned the corner his heart stopped cold as they took in the hustle and bustle of nurses and they saw the concern etched on the doctor's face as he left the room, chart in hand. With Morgan frozen to the spot Emily stepped forward, introducing herself as Penelope's friend and asking what had happened, all the while trying to keep her tone level and not let the worry creep in.

'Miss Garcia suffered an arrhythmia due to abnormal electric activity in her heart. It wasn't fatal and we stabilised her once more. Although this could set her back we are confident that she will come around soon. We want to monitor her more closely to see if this was due to the recent stresses her body has been under or if it is something we need to prevent from reoccurring.' He said, his tone professional but with the obvious undercurrent of empathy. 'Because she's stable again you can go in. She should be out for a while still, but it all depends on how her body is coping with all of the trauma.'

They nodded curtly and quickly made their way into the room, the team filing in behind them. As Morgan took in her pale skin and the slow moments of her chest he released the breath he had been holding. She was ok, she was still there. They just had to get her to open her eyes, to come back to them fully. He went straight back into the same position he had been before, clutching her hand in his, bringing it to his lips and kissing it softly before shutting his eyes and doing the one thing he could think of doing at that point, praying. It was the second time now he'd been in this situation, watching as his Baby Girl lay hurting and all he could do was pray for her safety, for her recovery. The damage had been done, he couldn't take that back, but he could only hope for those eyes to flicker open, to hear her say his name, to say anything. He opened his eyes and watched the rise and fall of her chest, taking comfort from the fact that she was still there; that she was going to wake up, it was just a matter of time.

That night Derek was still there, sitting vigil by her bedside silently begging her to open her eyes, to squeeze his hand, anything. He had almost given up the hope that she would wake tonight, when he heard soft mumblings, that sounded like 'no, no, I won't, please don't' and his head shot up, his heart simultaneously soaring and breaking upon hearing the soft pleas escaping her lips.

'Hey Baby Girl, Pen.' He said as tears welled in his eyes, and he squeezed her hand tighter, 'Pen, look at me, open your eyes, you're safe now. Baby please.' He implored.

As her eyes fluttered open on the white room he breathed a sigh of relief, kissing her hand softly as the tears welled once more. She looked at him, confusion evident in her eyes and his relief turned to worry in a second.


	11. All Round Prompts

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

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'What's going on? Where am I? Who, who, who … are… you?' Her small voice asked laced with uncertainty and fear.

His heart bottomed out, she wasn't kidding, there was no familiar sparkle in her eye as there would be if she was kidding. She was deadly serious and she was petrified. She just woke up on a room that she didn't recognise with a strange man holding her hand. But with these thoughts in his head he was still consumed with hurt, with sorrow at her words. She didn't know him. The woman he loved and was about to profess said love to didn't remember who he is.

At her words, JJ rushed to find the doctor while the rest of them watched as Morgan's whole world shattered into a million pieces. He gawped at her, his mouth falling open in shock and he let go of her hand and quickly left the room as he felt hot prickly tears start to form. He would not let them fall and cause her any more confusion than she must be feeling right now.

Emily left the room when she felt satisfied that he had had long enough on his own. 'Derek, I'm so, so sorry.' She let slip, and she knew they were not the words he needed right now.

'No you're not!' He spat back and immediately realised his error. 'Sorry.' He whispered back. 'This wasn't suppose to happening... why didn't we get to them quicker.' He said bitterly, his voice carrying a lot of guilt, a lot of regret. 'If we'd done our jobs better... if we'd...'

'If we'd done what Derek?' Emily said, she knew the route he was taking and she was sure as hell not going to allow him to take it. 'If we'd put all personal feelings aside and worked, if we'd worked like they were victims? You think we would've got to them quicker? None of that comes into it!' She bit back, she was feeling saddened too about Penelope's memory loss. 'I get it that you're whole world just fell down around you but that doesn't mean she can't do without you.'

'Emily... she doesn't know me!'

'Don't you think I know that too? Christ Morgan she doesn't know any of us! Not just you but she's still Penelope memory or no memory, the doctors pretty convinced she'll get it back, we just can't force her.'

'I was so ready.' He admitted with frustration and he felt some tears drop again. 'The moment I saw her eyes flicker and she looked at him I was ready but then she looked so confused so I thought it would be better to leave it until she got her head straight and then she said it, who are you? Who could've thought 3 little words could be so harrowing?'

'I don't know Derek I really don't but you two have 9 years worth of friendship it can't be gone forever.'

Derek couldn't help but laugh. '9 years eh? I don't quite know what's worse right now... losing her to Battle or losing her to this.'

'But you haven't lost her.'

'Well tell me how to get her to throw a bit of sarcasm at me... or to curl her lips in that smile I love so much or get her to let hot stuff roll off her tongue.. its not going to happen!'

'Hey guys.' Rossi said as he headed towards them. 'The doctor said triggers might help her, it seems she has holes in her memory.'

'Holes?'

'She knows she works with computers, just not with us or with the FBI.... she knows the nickname baby girl but not who says it or where it came from. She knows her brothers, just not that her mom and dad are dead.'

Emily placed her hand on Derek's shoulder and squeezed it. 'Well let's plan this.... let's go in there with a game plan.'

It wasn't long before the three of them headed back, the Garcia brother's headed off out leaving the team to sit around outside the room, they didn't want Penelope to be overwhelmed so they watched from the corridor as she stared out of the window her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes crying with frustration at not remembering the 5 people that wouldn't leave the hospital for love nor money.

'Maybe pictures might help?' Emily commented as she learnt near the door frame, making sure her voice was audible. 'You know there's that really nice one taken just after Battle.' She said name dropping.

JJ then approached after being let into the loop. 'Or there's the group one after New York?'

'Hmm, maybe ones of Pen and Derek would help?'

'Maybe, isn't there one of the pair of them where Derek put God given solace on it? I still want to know why he wrote that on it.'

'Because that's what he called me just after the ambulance blew up.' Penelope said sadly as she continued stare. Both Emily and JJ shot the three men outside a look before entering the room.

'Pen?' JJ questioned gently.

'Yeah kitten?' She responded before it hit her at what she had just said. 'Hotch!' She exclaimed as though she had just remembered the last couple of days and realised the boss man wasn't around, she then shot up. 'Oh God!' Derek rushed in but halted, however much he wanted to put his arms around her he was still wary at how much of her memory she had. 'I'm so sorry.' She sobbed; it more aimed at Derek than the others.

He remained where he was, a step away from the end of the bed, his eyes focused on her. His heart soared, did she remember it all? But the fear from a moment ago was still there, keeping him from moving any closer just yet. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and never let go, tell her all those things that he'd been ready to tell her when he first saw her eyes flutter open. But now, now he was scared, scared that in forgetting and remembering again she had forgotten and lost some of the memories, some of the feelings. And he really hoped that that was not the case. But he knew that hope wasn't always enough.

However, upon seeing his hesitation she dissolved into a fresh batch of tears, this time sobs racking her already weakened frame he knew she was there; she was there and now hurting because he didn't go to her, because he stilled, because she thought he didn't want to. And that was furthest from the truth.

Her sobs shook her body as the realisation dawned: she had hurt the one person she never wanted to; although she knew it wasn't her fault, that it happened because of her injuries, it still stung. Why did her mind and body have to conspire against her, possibly causing her to lose him? It was when this thought crossed her mind that the sobs increased. But as they did she also felt the familiar strong arms encircling her shoulders as the bed dipped beside her.

This time the tears were of happiness and relief as she felt the warmth radiate from his body and she smiled through the tears as his lips pressed against her forehead and his whispers words of comfort reached her ears.

'It's okay baby girl.' He rocked her slightly in his embrace. He looked up to see Emily escaping the room quietly and knew that now was the time to sort this out. 'Come on baby let's get you laying back down.'

'I'm sorry.' She said as she clung onto him, refusing to break the gap as though if she did he would walk away for what had happened. 'I didn't mean to do it.'

'Hey, hey, hey I know that... come on you need to calm down Pen.' Derek said as he looked at the others for answers, he knew that for this he just had to be him like Emily had told him to be. Right at that moment all he could do was hold her like she evidently wanted right then and there.

'Look who I found.' Emily said as she entered the room with Hotch and Sean. 'Wouldn't rest until he saw a certain tech of ours.'

Penelope finally separated slightly from Derek and looked at Hotch and smiled. 'You look like crap.' She told him and made him laugh slightly before the pain riddled his side again.

'I could say the same about you.' He quipped back and she laughed slightly, the last remnants of tears escaping her eyes Derek keeping his arm around her, keeping her close. 'Did you get them?'

'We did... just a little too late.' Reid answered, his voice a little distracted.

'A little too late would be us two not being here.' Hotch replied to the point. 'Our tech there would've kept it going had we not been over heard.'

'Overheard?'

'We were talking when we were alone and we didn't realise they were listening in.' Penelope continued feeling like she needed to share as much as Hotch did.

'What were you talking about?'

'Everything and anything.' Penelope said as she pushed a hand to her head to ease the pain with the warmth of her palm.

'We didn't out rightly say what we had done, but they knew and they had it on tape.' Hotch continued to verify. 'Everything we had spoken about that was personal was on that tape.'

'Personal?'

'We were talking about you guys to keep us distracted.'

'They heard it all and tried to get Penelope to tell them what she had done, she refused and then when he called her sweetheart, she told him 'I made sure they could find us' that didn't go down well did it Penelope?' She shook her head slightly.

'But then again you didn't hold back did you boss man?'

'Well I needed to keep you as safe as I could... even if now it doesn't seem like I did that.' Hotch pondered as he remembered seeing her having the butt of a gun slammed onto her head with so much sheer force he felt it as though it were happening to him, he looked back up. 'Er guys... do you mind if I have word with Penelope alone please?'

'We'll be outside.' Derek said, planting a kiss on Penelope's head before getting up and bringing up the rear as they all left the pair shutting the door behind them.

'You going to tell him?'

'You going to tell her?' Penelope responded with the same tone as she used in the room back in their hell. 'Hotch I don't know if I can.'

'Why not?'

'Erm a certain thing called a relationship.'

'They're not together.' He said seriously. 'Sean said they broke up.'

'More of a reason not to go there.'

'Penelope stop stalling.' He saw her shift slightly, so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling down, her body closer to him. 'Penelope...'

'How could I forget you all? How could I forget him? After everything he's done for me...my mind just...wiped him out.' She said with a florish of her arm.

'What happened, happened purely because of what they did to you... you had no control of that but you do now, it all came back to you... so I think its time.'

'I'm still scared.'

'Scared is a close call with death, scared is not what you are and you proved that to me back there Penelope.' She looked at him, not talking. 'I'm telling you as a friend not a boss, but you two already proved you want one another, he held you like if he didn't you would just disappear and you held him like if you didn't he would walk away.'

'I seriously thought he would.'

'But he wouldn't because he loves you.' He pushed the chair towards the door. 'Tell him.' He said before opening the door. 'Emily we need to talk.' He said as Derek and Emily stood guard at the door, he looked at Penelope who was staring wide eyed at him. 'Derek, Penelope needs to tell you some things.'

'Oh?' Derek said, wondering what was going on.

'See you later Penelope.' Hotch called back. As he and Emily turned to walk down the corridor she turned and looked at Derek silently telling him to do it now, that they both should do it now.


	12. Expressing It All

**Disclaimer**: As ever we do not own Criminal Minds... we wish we did :))

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As Derek closed the door behind him, sitting on the edge of the bed and trying to make eye contact, Penelope suddenly very uncharacteristically nervous was wringing her fingers, her hands unable to keep still as her heart rate accelerated: was she going to be able to do this? What if he didn't feel the same?

Derek, upon hearing the increased beeping from the monitors next to Penelope began to worry. Taking her hand in his he tried to get her to calm down. 'Pen, you can talk to me, what's wrong? Baby Girl.' He implored tilting her chin upwards so that she was looking at him.

When their eyes met, she knew that she had to tell him, the sincerity and concern in his eyes almost overwhelming. They were both holding their breath, the last syllable of baby girl resounding in the air around them that had begun to almost crackle with electricity as their eyes remained locked. The spell was broken when Morgan reached out with his other hand and slowly moved a loose curl to the side, tucking it behind her ear, careful not to nudge her glasses. She turned away again looking to her hands, studying them, scrutinising them as if she had the answers there. But there were no longer answers to be given; this was all new territory, uncharted waters where her heart was the only guide. She just had to trust it, to trust it and in with it. She took a deep breath, steadying rapidly beating heart and she heard him breathe a sigh of relief as the beeping on the monitors returned back to the normal level. When she turned to look at him this time he saw the look in her eyes and the set of her jaw that she had something she wanted to say and he wasn't going to interrupt her unless he wanted the stuffing torn out of him. Afraid that she was going to tell him something that would lead to rejection, he made up his mind up and took a breath in before letting the words he'd had trouble finding and getting his head around spill out.

'Ever loved your best friend?' He said, and immediately knew that was the question that was supposed to stay in his head not said through his lips.

'I have yeah.' Penelope replied, shock absorbing her as she realised she automatically responded.

'So you know that a lot rides on it?'

'I do yeah.'

'More lose if the other one doesn't feel the same than win.'

'Yeah.' She said, now feeling unsure where this was going. 'Derek...' She started but felt herself withhold all over again.

'Why can't you talk to me?'

'Let me put this the best way my head can put it at the moment yeah?'

'Okay.' He said before grabbing the chair he had sat in whilst willing her to wake up, he pulled it close, and grabbed one of her hands, holding onto it as though it was life itself.

Penelope closed her eyes before breathing in and then looking at him again, her eyes locked on his, there was no moving from that gaze now. 'When I heard you and Emily were dating I felt, well, jealousy.' Derek smiled and went to talk, but stopped as her eyes told him not to stop her with this travelling thought. 'You started this new relationship, one where I was pushed aside, and to be honest, I didn't help I took steps back, steps out of your life because you were serious about making it work. As a result of me stepping out, Hotch did the same with his and Emily's friendship, we became closer because of it.' She saw fear gather in Derek's eyes.

As she said those words_, we became closer,_ he knew he had lost her chance so he let go of her hands and looked away. 'So you became close.... are you together?'

'God no! Our friendship grew Derek, we bounced off each other like I used to with you and he did with Emily, and then he asked me to help with the case and I accepted, I had nothing to do with my free time but minimalistic things so I accepted, we got closer through that too, we talked about a lot, too much some might say but we both gained from it.'

'What are you trying to tell me?'

'He taught me to go with my instincts on a lot of things.' She said and felt braver, Hotch's voice in her head, stop stalling, he said because at that moment she knew she was prolonging the amount of time before she had to say the 5 worded sentence. 'So right now I'm going on my instincts; I know what it feels like to love my best friend because right here and now I love him.'

Derek gawped again for the second time that day, this time for an entirely different reason. 'You love me?'

'I do and I know you and Emily...'

'Broke it off...' He said to her and knew that his and Emily's relationship had returned to its foundations. 'She's known I've loved you for years, but I never thought I could get you so I went with her.'

'Couldn't get me? Handsome if you hadn't noticed I hardly have men at my feet... I'm not the pick of the girls.'

'You're the pick of my girls.'

She chocked her eyebrow at him and realised he was deadly seriously, the fire burning in his eyes. Derek then bent down and kissed her the way he had never been able to kiss Emily.

When broke away he looked at her. 'When I saw you on that video my heart sunk, and I felt so sick, and Emily felt the same when she saw Hotch, we knew then that we couldn't keep going like we were, we needed to be truthful with one another. So we were and we both came out the other side intact.'

'Is it definitely what you want?'

'More than you know.' Derek replied and kissed her again, gently at first, until she made it evident she wanted to pursue it further, at last the emotions flowed, they both had what they needed, wanted and loved.

-=-=-=-

Emily followed Hotch's retreating form to his room, biting her nails in nervousness as the realisation hit that this was the moment she had been waiting for: she had Hotch all alone and she could now tell him exactly how she felt about him. Bit how come it had seemed so much easier earlier?

She helped him get onto the bed, before perching on it and looking at the floor in front of her she then twisted her body to make Hotch realise she needed to talk to him, she was leaving her body language open to him, inviting him to allow her to speak

'What do you want to talk about?' She asked feeling uneasy for once in her life.

'Did you know Penelope's good at teaching things without knowing she's doing it?'

'I had noticed that yeah.'

'She's taught a good few things over the last few months or so.'

'Oh?'

'The first one being honesty, another courage, and a third bravery...'

'Hotch.' She began, about to cut him off and go for it, to take that risk, to follow Penelope's unconscious teaching and be brave but felt her mind hitch and her lips freeze.

Hotch took her hesitation as a warning, a rebuke but knew that he had to tell her anyway, no matter what the outcome, he had to follow through and be done with the secrecy once and for all. He took a steadying breath, bracing himself before he opened his mouth to finally let those words escape. 'Do you love Derek?'

'I think I did...' She admitted looking down. 'Things changed though.' His heart ballooned at her words: did that mean what he thought that meant? Was she trying to work up the courage to do the same thing he was?

When he found his voice again she decided to ask. 'In what way?' He implored not quite knowing how to feel. The softness and nervousness evident in his voice were so at odds to his usual hard exterior that the next words to leave her lips left smoothly. He was as nervous as her about this.

I think I just fell out of love with him.' He wanted to ask what had happened, what had made this occur and what it meant but he couldn't, he needed for her to share with him, not to be forced to share. Instead of asking any of those questions he looked up at her, watching the emotions in her brown eyes. He was sure there was more than just friendship shining through. He implored her to continue by speaking no words. 'He saw right through me... saw that I wasn't all in that relationship with him, and nor was he, for similar reasons, he was in love with someone else.' She turned to him hastily. 'I love you.' She said and he saw a bashful smile play on her lips, he knew she had to blurt it out with such velocity or she would never say it.

He smiled at her, the one he always felt like he needed to use when she was in the room, the smile he kept for her, whether talking to her or about her. 'I'm in love with someone.' He saw her face dropped. 'But I couldn't say anything because she was in a relationship, a seemingly long lasting serious relationship.' He saw up, hiding all signs of weakening and grabbed her hand. 'I love you too.'

Emily smiled at him, a smile she had been itching to share, one that hadn't seemed plausible since seeing the news. 'You dare scare me like that again, I'll...'

'You'll what?'

'I can punish... my spur of the moment punishments are not always good.'

Before he could respond to her threat he felt her lips take his and the one thing that both had longed for happened, he couldn't help but smile as their lips withdraw from each other's minutes later. 'I promise not to scare you again...' He continued with a smirk. 'Did it take me getting kidnapped to realise that you're in love with me as much as I'm in love with you?'

'I think it did... but next time find an easier way to make us realise.'

'There won't be a next time.' He added certain that it was the beginning of something new, something they both wanted. This time he took charge and kissed her whole heartedly, all being reciprocated from Emily's side.

-=-=-=-

Authors Note: So it finished!!! We'd like to thank everyone that read and especially everyone that reviewed!


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